Kawaii Crush "Katie Cat Meow Meow" Doll by Spin Master

I am always interested in what Spin Master is doing.  Even before this company produced my favorite play dolls--the Liv girls, they had me running all over Maine looking for that special, impossible-to-find Bakugan dragon for my boys.  Spin Master's latest doll line, Kawaii Crush, was announced at Toy Fair in February.  These anime-style dolls represent the trendy Japanese kawaii culture, epitomized by popular characters like Pokemon's Pikachu and Hello Kitty.  Kawaii means "cute" or "lovable" in Japanese and has taken on the secondary meaning of "cool."  Kawaii culture centers around everything looking cute--be it physical appearance, collectibles, jewelry, art, clothing...even vehicles and food.  For example, Lolita fashions, like those embraced by some of Groove's Pullip dolls, are common in kawaii style.  Kawaii merchandise seems to be very, very popular right now, and not just in Japan.  In Maine, I see a little bit of this craze...if only in the knitted animal hats that are being worn by people of all ages.  While I wasn't really captivated by the promotional pictures of the Kawaii Crush dolls, I assumed that these toys would be popular.  Spin Master seems to have their finger on the pulse of what's trendy, and a real a knack for making toys that fly off the shelves...at least initially.

Just so you know, it is very difficult for me to review these dolls objectively.  Although my rational brain totally understands that Spin Master didn't stop making Liv dolls in order to make Kawaii Crush figures, my emotional brain can't help but compare everything this company produces to my beloved, discontinued Liv girls.

Kawaii Crush "Katie Cat" and Liv "Katie."

Liv in Wonderland

The Liv in Wonderland series is an exclusive set of Liv dolls that was made for Target starting in summer 2011.  The dolls are dressed in their costumes for the school play, Alice in Wonderland.  They all seem to have gotten leading roles.  Although the title of this release obviously refers to the Alice play, the "wonderland" part just makes me think of The Wonder Years TV show and in the back of my head I am thinking that this was how good Liv dolls were back in their wonder years.  That's silly of me, since we don't even know if Spin Master has completely abandoned the old articulated bodies, but it's just how I feel.  I miss the old days.

The good news is, these Liv in Wonderland dolls are still on the shelves at Target for $15.99 (cheaper than the Brites exclusives which are $19.99).  The Wonderland dolls went on clearance for about $10 right before Christmas, and so I assumed they were on their way out, but apparently not.  I've had mine stashed away since then and today I decided to get them out of their boxes.  I don't have all of the dolls because I never really wanted Katie.  Here are the ones I have, still in their boxes:

Liv Sophie as Alice in Wonderland.

2012 Liv Dolls...What if You Don't Like the New Body?

I still have Liv dolls on my mind today, and since there are brand new releases to chat about, they get another post.  A commenter got me thinking--if you are like me and really don't care for the new body, are these dolls still worth buying just for the clothes, shoes and wig?  My first thought was that this is really wasteful.  I would feel bad throwing away a whole doll just to have her clothes.  However, as someone pointed out, the doll could go to the thrift store (or be given away on a blog for free...) maybe finding its way to a smaller child who would do better with a less articulated doll.  That could work out pretty well.

The Liv for Color line is priced at $10.99 and the Brites are $19.99, so with this in mind, I am going to de-box Brites Alexis and then we'll compare what you get with her to what came with Liv for Color Katie and see if it's worth the cash.  Sound good?

First things first, time to get Alexis out of the box.

The First New Liv Dolls of 2012

I am a big fan of Liv dolls in general, (you can read my introductory review of them here) even though I really don't care for the gimmicky "Twist and Dance" line.  Late in 2011, after the "Twist and Dance" line, Spin Master put out a "Spa" wave that included Daniela, Sophie and Alexis.  These dolls are advertised as having make up and hair that changes color under the influence of cold water, allowing the dolls to have different looks.  Sounds pretty neat, actually.  I never got around to buying one of these dolls, although I have been curious about how well this color change technology works in real life.  In any case, I think the Spa line came out in the summer and I haven't seen any new dolls from Liv since then...or hadn't until yesterday.

Yesterday, as I was hunting down the Friends LEGO at Target, I saw three new waves of Liv doll on the shelves!  I was very excited.  Let me get this out of the way right at the beginning: the "Sleepover" line of dolls, designed with eyes that close when they lie down (good idea!) and special "pillow fight" action in their arms were...bad.  I couldn't find a single doll in the store that had eyes that would open all of the way, making the dolls look sedated or sick...or worse, sultry.  Their faces are shiny--like they have a fever.  The lips are painted strangely.  I looked at every single doll, trying hard to like one of them, and had no luck.  I also think the pillow fight action is silly, but I could have overlooked that for a pretty face.  It was super-easy for me to dismiss these dolls at $19.99.

From a distance, however, I could already see that the colors on the two other sets are fabulous.  The first to catch my eye were the Liv "Brites," which are a Target exclusive:

Sophie

Liv Dolls by Spin Master

Spin Master makes a lot of cool, trendy toys like Bakugan, Tech Deck and Zoobles.  My kids were really into Bakugan a few years ago, and I have to admit, I think they are pretty neat little engineering wonders.  However, I think that Spin Master's greatest accomplishment in the last few years has been the production of the Liv doll.

Liv dolls are ~12-inch tall, highly articulated plastic dolls with changeable wigs and inset eyes.  Several other doll companies have made mass-market play dolls with changeable wigs at this point, but as far as I know, Liv was the first girl on the block to have one.  You can find Liv dolls at all of the big department stores for $15- $20.  They are often on sale for less.  Target, Walmart and Toys 'R' Us have had exclusive editions.  FAO Schwarz carries them now, too.

There are 6 Liv characters; Sophie, Daniela, Alexis and Katie (the original four), Hayden (who joined in 2010) and Jake (the only guy so far).  They all have different physical features, but I will talk about that later.  Here is Katie from the "It's My Nature" wave: